TableMaker

Make Tables for Netscape & Other Browsers Easily!

Just fill in your preferences for the table you want to make (only the DATA field is absolutely required) and then hit either of the two "Make Table" buttons. Select the names of the different options (the links in all CAPS) for a description of what they represent. For help on using TableMaker , see the Examples page. For links to other relevant web sites, see the Resources page. Check out the TableMaker Application for use on your computer without an Internet connection (currrent is version 1.1).

Check out my ColorMaker pagefor an easy way to make colorful web pages
and my FrameShop page
for an easy way to make Netscape Frames.

Definitions of TableMaker Options

The thickness in pixels of the border surrounding the entire table. Mosaic doesn't support sizing of borders and will display the same size border no matter what value is entered. Leave this field blank if you want a table with no border.

The width of the table in pixels or as a relative percentage of the browser window. By default, a number is assumed to be the width of the table in pixels, unless it is followed by a percentage sign (ex: 75%). Leave this field blank if you want the table to be just wide enough to fit all the data, but no wider.

The height of the table in pixels or as a relative percentage of the browser window. By default, a number is assumed to be the height of the table in pixels, unless it is followed by a percentage sign (ex: 75%). Leave this field blank if you want the table to be just tall enough to fit all the data, but no taller.

Cells are by default formatted as data cells unless you choose to format them as header cells. Generally, header cells are used to denote the title of a column or row. By default, the values appearing in header cells are centered and bold and the values appearing in data cells are aligned left and plain. The alignment of each type of cell can be changed using the ALIGN option.

The horizontal alignment of the values within cells. In Netscape, the default alignments of header and data cells are center and left, respectively. You can choose different alignments for each type of cell. If you want all cells to have the same alignment, align the cells by rows and leave the default settings for the header and data cells. Alignments specified by header and/or data cells take precedence if you also try to specify alignments by rows.

The number of columns a particular cell spans across. TableMaker can look for a special code within your input data in the form of "(cs=#)" to span columns. For example, to span a cell containing the word "sleepy" across four columns, use the code "(cs=4)sleepy" in your input data. Disable the use of COLSPAN if your data already contains values that can be confused with the special code. Look at the Examples page for a more-detailed description of column spanning.

The number of rows a particular cell spans down. TableMaker can look for a special code within your input data in the form of "(rs=#)" to span rows. For example, to span a cell containing the word "awake" down two rows, use the code "(rs=2)awake" in your input data. Disable the use of ROWSPAN if your data already contains values that can be confused with the special code. Look at the Examples page for a more-detailed description of row spanning.

This feature gives you the opportunity to choose how the actual source of the table will be written. If you have lots of cells per row and/or the cells contain a lot of data, then you will probably want to have the codes for the cells written on new lines. Otherwise, the lines will be quite long. If you have just a few cells per row and/or you don't have a lot of data in them, then writing the codes for all the cells of a row on the same line will make the source easier to read and modify.

If you are using Netscape 2.0 or above, you can select to have the tables you make displayed in either the same window as TableMaker (as usual) or in a separate window. If you select a separate window, it will be created the first time and then re-used subsequent times. One advantage to this is you won't have to wait for Netscape to reload TableMaker each time you go back to make a new table. Another advantage for choosing a separate window is that it remembers the previous tables you created and you can return to them to look at them again.

A textual description of the table which you can choose to display above or below the table. Netscape wraps long captions so it won't be wider than the table, but Mosaic (at least Mac Mosaic) uses the entire width of the browser window. You can also choose to have the caption shown in bold if your browser doesn't do it automatically.

This is where you enter the actual data for the table you want to make. The data for the different cells of a row need to be separated by commas or tabs. Each line in your data corresponds to a row in your table. For an easy way to convert your word processor or spreadsheet tables, save them as tab- or comma-delimited files, then paste the results into the DATA field. Check out the Examples of input data and their corresponding tables.